Richard Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 B.C. Premier League given thumbs down - Times Colonist After a series of meetings involving all three districts in recent weeks, premier-division teams in the Vancouver Metro Soccer League have voted not to take part in what was to have been called the B.C. Premier Soccer League. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 This is exactly what soccer needs to develop at the 16-18 year old level in Canada. this is very disappointing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ref Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 B.C. Premier League given thumbs down - Times Colonist After a series of meetings involving all three districts in recent weeks, premier-division teams in the Vancouver Metro Soccer League have voted not to take part in what was to have been called the B.C. Premier Soccer League. Was the BC Premier League to have games in Victoria as well? I remember years ago the Vancouver Metro Soccer League not liking to travel to Victoria for games as they considered the Victoria teams not worth their while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 Too bad. This would have made soccer on the south coast a lot more exciting. To me, this is just VMSL clubs not willing to take a chance. Now we have the same format again, with no movement towards something better. Look at the VMSL: how many of the Premier Division sides are clubs and how many are teams? Does every side have dressing rooms available? This BC Premier League had the chance to set up a real top flight in BC with standards towards player development and facilities. Instead, the VMSL continues to stay stale, and stand in the way of progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted February 22, 2010 Author Share Posted February 22, 2010 Was the BC Premier League to have games in Victoria as well? I remember years ago the Vancouver Metro Soccer League not liking to travel to Victoria for games as they considered the Victoria teams not worth their while.Yes, there would have been games in Victoria. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettermirror Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 If this was turned into a u23 premier league, with say u18 or younger requirements....this league could fly! I have no doubt one of the issues is that the elder premier players didn't want such a committment away on weekends regularly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ted Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 This is exactly what soccer needs to develop at the 16-18 year old level in Canada. this is very disappointing Why? It seems to me we need professionalism at that age group. Games between neighbouring amateur leagues don't really offer much - if any - developmental benefit that I can see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Why? It seems to me we need professionalism at that age group. Games between neighbouring amateur leagues don't really offer much - if any - developmental benefit that I can see. That is what I meant. I mixed it up with another potential league I'd heard people talk about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regs Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 For anyone wanting a slight backgrounder on how it played out, here's a 1 year "diary" of happenings: http://www.takethepiss.com/forums/bc-soccer-general-discussion/14776-bcpl-bc-premier-league-proposal.html The Times Colonist article doesn't tell the whole story on how it all came to this and personally I'm finding it a bit offensive how certain attributes and blame are being placed on the VMSL teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted February 23, 2010 Author Share Posted February 23, 2010 Well, it was an article in an Island paper ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soccerpro Posted February 23, 2010 Share Posted February 23, 2010 Recently there was a Maritime based senior league (N.S, P.E.I, NB) on the East Coast. A lot of players stopped playing because of the travel. It seemed like every weekend you had to travel. All of the Halifax teams hated it after the first year, as most of the guys would rather play week nights and have their weekends free. I played in it one year in between university seasons. I couldn't stand the travel, not to mention the amount of money it costs traveling everywhere (gas, meals, hotel, missed working opportunities for university students.) Never having free weekends sucked. It wasn't just the older players who hated it, it was everyone. Keep in mind however the travel was regularly 2-5 hour trips. It turned out that most of the teams only arrived for road games with 12 players. In N.S we were used to having to one 4 hour hotel trip a year, plus maybe one trip to the valley (1 hour) or highland (2 hours) in the N.S.S.L and even the Halifax teams hated that. Everyone loved it when the rural teams just dropped out and it was just City teams. I'm sure the case of Vancouver is no different. The highest level of play is already in Vancouver, why bother with the annoying travel. Yes I know there are good teams on the Island, but I wouldn't do it either. These players are amateurs not professionals, don't overlook that fact. If this league ever goes ahead, I guarantee the Vancouver teams will just drop out after a year or two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trillium Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 Richard... how much expense money are amateur clubs in BC allowed to pay players ? Seems to me if you allowed up to 500 a week with a mimimum of 100 in expense money the players would be on side, or do the clubs fielding teams in BC not have the money to afford that ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regs Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 So $2000 a month per player is what you're suggesting? Are you taking the piss? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 Soccerpro, there are teams of kids as young as 13 travelling more than that on a regular basis. Odd how age goes backwards. If I'm the CSA and I hear stuff like that, I sit down and weep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 Soccerpro, there are teams of kids as young as 13 travelling more than that on a regular basis.... ...who don't have a regular 9 to 5 job to hold down and the same level of family/relationship commitments as adult players so what is that supposed to prove? The reality whether you like it or not is that open age elite amateur/semi-pro leagues are usually only sustainable within a regular travel distance of 1 hour or so with 2 hours being doable for a few isolated teams. If people finally came to terms with Canada's continental scale geography and came up with league structures that reflected that reality rather than trying to have European style single table home and away divisions progress might actually start to be made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soccerpro Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 Soccerpro, there are teams of kids as young as 13 travelling more than that on a regular basis. Odd how age goes backwards. If I'm the CSA and I hear stuff like that, I sit down and weep. Consider that 13 year olds don't have full time jobs, don't have families they have to care for, they aren't university students taking summer courses, or university students working shift work which includes weekends trying to save money for school, 13 year olds have parents who pay for everything, 19 and 20 year olds do not etc....I could go on forever. Your being unrealistic in assuming everyone who plays top level adult amateur soccer has dreams of playing in a semi pro environment with the aim of improving their play no matter what the cost. On the contrary, while most of these guys are very competitive, they are also realistic where they are in their soccer careers, especially once their university career is over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 That's your reality from the past. Yes scheduling is one part of the professionalization required. I don't know about the London area, but the 13yr old kids I'm talking about aren't driving themselves to games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soccerpro Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 One parent can drive 5 kids in a van to the game and send them with money. That leaves 9 parents free to do what they want with their weekend. Not the same scenario with a mens team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted February 24, 2010 Author Share Posted February 24, 2010 Richard... how much expense money are amateur clubs in BC allowed to pay players ? Seems to me if you allowed up to 500 a week with a mimimum of 100 in expense money the players would be on side, or do the clubs fielding teams in BC not have the money to afford that ? I have no idea about the winter leagues such as VMSL/FVSL/VISL which were the ones involved with the BCPL. They all play games involving typically less than an hour travel time by car to any game though. I suggest paying players $2,000/month would require a radical change in the business plan for most if not all 'amateur' clubs, many of which I suspect even now struggle to cover their current costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted February 24, 2010 Author Share Posted February 24, 2010 Soccerpro, there are teams of kids as young as 13 travelling more than that on a regular basis. Odd how age goes backwards. If I'm the CSA and I hear stuff like that, I sit down and weep. Of all people you should appreciate the huge difference in attitude and circumstances between those involved with elite youth soccer and adults involved in recreational senior play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted February 24, 2010 Author Share Posted February 24, 2010 I suggest trying to 'force' clubs involved in amateur recreational play in leagues requiring minimal travel and no overnight stay requirements to transition to what would essentially be a semi-pro type environment is probably doomed to fail. Inter-city leagues such as the PCSL succeed because clubs and players know full well what they are getting into before they ever join the league. Even then though the player pool is much more restricted than say for a local recreational weekend league for all the reasons already given. Requires players with a whole different level of commitment and availability and an entirely different business model for the clubs concerned. Seems many of the clubs and players affected by the BCPL proposal were unwilling to make that transition and have chosen to remain playing local recreational soccer which is not unreasonable really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 Assuming the top VMSL teams train regularly (and I don't doubt for a second that they do) referring to them as "recreational" can leave people with a very misleading impression. Travel is a red herring where the distinction between amateur and semi-pro is concerned. There is no reason why a league based primarily in a single city like Vancouver can't be semi-pro if facilities and spectator interest permit. In Australia most of the large cities like Melbourne, Sydney etc have their own local semi-pro leagues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regs Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 VMSL teams train twice a week, typically in the evenings on turf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 ...which is (as I always suspected would be the case based on what happens in Ontario) pretty much the same commitment level as that expected by top semi-pro teams in the UK at Scottish second division, Irish Premier League or Blue Square North and South level to put things in perspective. Hardly what people think of when they read the words "amateur recreational". As an outsider looking in on the BC situation having separate elite level Vancouver and Fraser Valley leagues in an area that can't span much more than an hour's drive seems a bit odd to me but I can understand why people would not be keen on regular ferry journeys to Victoria. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted February 24, 2010 Author Share Posted February 24, 2010 Amateur or professional status is not determined by how many practises a week a team holds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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